best way to shoot a gun

[s_tabikha]

How can i get my muskeeters to
1.All fire are once

2. Unit holds formations while 1st line runs to the rear rank and reloads?

[WhiskeyGhost]

Volley/Barrage modes would be nice, but with the way the gunners act right now with all the lining up and such nonsense, it would just make it even harder to get em to do what you want.

I personally just hit Guard mode then turn off Fire at Will, then wait till i know all my gunners are in range. Works to a similar effect.


edit: oh, and that rotation thing i believe some of them did that if i recall right, but it always ticked me off cause they would slowly be moving backwards due to it (kinda like Xbows on walls, how they end up smooshed against the inner side)

[Guru]

Put the skirmish mode on and set the gunners up in the 2-rank formation. The first rank fires and then kneels to reload while the second rank fires. It works pretty well. Deleting the "fire by rank" trait in the units text file has the same effect as having skirmish mode on, I've heard. You'll need to unpack the files to get your hands on the units file.

Pull the trigger.
Guru

[uruk-hai]

yes puting on skirmish mode helps a lot,+ you guns unit fire faster and may get in a lot more kills.no there is no way to get them all to fire at once,would maybe cool if we could.

[Shahed]

Volley fire HAS to be there in E:TW.

[Spajus]

Volley fire HAS to be there in E:TW.

ETW should really be about speed of volley, range and accuracy.
Charge, Defence etc really shouldn't matter a damn.


(unless you're playing as Zulu's)

[ReiseReise]

Arranging your gunners surely is a puzzle. If you have them in the flanks, maybe it isn't such a big deal, but if they are in your front line you definitely want them to be the most effective. What I recommend is to play around with them in Custom Battles to figure out their firing patterns. Something like 3 Armoured Sergeants vs 2 Arquebusiers or whatever you faction gets is a good place to start. Play 5 or so battles and see which formations get the most kills. I forget how the whole Skirmish mode/ Hold position thing works, but one combination makes them rotate through the ranks more effectively.

Note: I usually finish campaigns before gunpowder, so most of my experience is in Custom Battle (I don't play MP). This is when you have enemy infantry charging directly at your guns, expect to take some losses before your line can move up and the gunners can withdraw.

3 ranks deep: This is the fastest firing. The back row will get reloaded just in time to move up to the front and fire. 4 ranks in unnecessary because A) it takes longer for the back row to move up, and B) you will have only 15 guns firing instead of 20.

2 ranks deep: They will fire two volleys then pause slightly. Since there are more men in the front line the 2 volleys will be more powerful (30 firing vs 20 firing), however timing is important. You cannot start them on Fire At Will because they will fire the first volley at long (inaccurate) range and then the second at medium range, then they will pause when the enemy is really close (prime firing position!) You have to time it perfectly so that you turn on Fire At Will just as the enemy is in the perfect position where the second volley will be fired directly into their face, hopefully causing them to rout, or at least hurt their morale significantly. Another note: when you gunners are on Fire At Will, they tend to concentrate on a single unit. This is Good and Bad. Good: the targeted unit is more likely to rout and start a chain reaction. Bad: Several enemy units will reach your gunners basically unharmed.

Any comments are PLEASE WELCOMED, as I have limited experience with gunpowder but I am trying to offer the best advice I know.